AM fades and buzzes but Radio Caroline wants it

(Guest Author: Peter Moore)

[In response to Christopher England’s article “Pirate Radio Ship Ahoy?” (here)]  Chris makes his points well, as ever and yes, Pirate Ships used AM since at first that was all there was. Later, FM from sea level was never going to go far inland and LW required an aerial far too long to be supported by a ship. So they were trapped with AM, but it did work rather well from ships since there is no better earth than salt water and having a good earth is as important as having a good aerial. Signals tend not to lose strength across a sea path either.

So, that is the end of the technical stuff.

The radio enthusiasts of old, may look back at the era of AM radio ships with particular fondness because it transports them to a time where they suddenly had a lot of music to listen to and when they were young, healthy and good looking (well, the last possibility may be less likely). Now it is all over and they are sad, so they have to dream that just somehow it may all come back. Or they are angry since someone must be responsible for taking away something that they loved. Or they are just plain bonkers.

Now, not all radio enthusiasts or indeed ‘anoraks’ are mad, I have never made that blanket suggestion. I am an anorak, how could I not be considering the job I do. It is only the hard core who are mad.

I guess that they do not like, or deny the existence of, the modern day FM pirates because they are not Crusaders. They are hard nosed, well run, criminal operations. The old style enthusiasts are convinced that the Pirate Ships and the early land based stations had a noble purpose of fighting for freedom. The very names of the first two to come to media prominence Radio Free London and Radio Free Caroline says it all.

Even today, some old style pirates still switch on transmitters here and there, send programmes for a while and then close down, convinced that they have struck some sort of blow, but sadly, nobody knows or cares. That is the sadness of it all, that they think anyone is interested.

I think that if someone was crazy enough to put a station on a ship off the UK coast, the government of the day would have to react. Radio ships make good photo opportunities and unless something major was happening in the news, the helicopters would be sent out for footage and Tony Blackburn would be wheeled out to say the same things that he has said a hundred times now and a minister would be asked ‘what do you intend to do about this?’. The 1991 Broadcasting Act (which the nutters like to pretend does not exist) includes some astonishing clauses detailing the powers that the government gave itself to deal with a marine broadcaster. Some may say that the clauses were included to terrify anyone who was even thinking of trying.

Radio Caroline and AM is a different story, but only because of the particular circumstances that exist. Our audience is ‘mature’. You may just say ‘old’. They would listen to AM and enjoy a bit of fading. And, as someone said to me today AM may fade and buzz a bit near a power line, but DAB is there, and then it is gone, while AM just falters a bit.

Our audience on AM may come from those presently listening to BBC local radio. A listener is a listener, we don’t much care where we take them from.

Finally, if we had a blank sheet of paper I am sure that not even Radio Caroline would plan an AM radio station from scratch, but, we already have one.

We have the studios, the music, office space, accomodation, transmitters, power and soon a smart new aerial. All we need is permission to turn it on. No investment needed, no expenditure, we just need a bit of paper that says ‘OK, you can flip that switch and we will not prosecute you’.

As Richard Bacon MP said to the boss of Ofcom concerning our ambitions ‘What is there not to like about this?’.

Author: Peter Moore, Radio Caroline.
from: A Bit Moore